Monday, May 31, 2010

Heritage Notes - 4 June 2010

Relative search

From time to time, we get requests from people with Cappoquin connections in search of some relatives or ancestors. We are, naturally, only too happy to help when possible. This week, we print two photographs of a man known to have lived locally over sixty years ago, with the following request from a relative, Jocelyn. If anyone can help, you can contact Jocelyn directly or indeed talk to any Civic Link member and we will get information to her. Here is Jocelyn’s message:‘Could anyone help me. I am trying to trace my family tree. I am looking for a name for the man in these photographs. I know he was in this area [Cappoquin-Lismore] in the 1940s. Many thanks. Jocelyn – email address: Heritage.1@hotmail.co.uk .’

Window Work

We now have a total of three shop windows in the town centre which have been renewed with some assistance from Civic Link members, hopefully with more to follow. Well done to those involved and for the partnership approach adopted by the premises owners. The cost is minimal but the benefits to the place are significant.

Historical society visit

The Thomond Historical Society spent last weekend in west Waterford and passed quite a deal of time in Cappoquin and the surrounding area. The group, forty four strong, were very interested in the industrial and political history of the Cappoquin area and also visited Dromana, Tourin and Melleray over the weekend. It was fascinating to see their surprise at discovering that Affane and Tourin were the home of Valentine Greatrakes, as the Greatrakes family also held property in Rathkeale Co. Limerick. The group were highly impressed with the series of footpath plaques they found at their feet on Cappoquin’s pavements and proved to be highly knowledgeable about matters like the Battle of Affane and Cappoquin Rowing Club. Maybe we are more famous than we think!

Facebook and Friends

Thanks to the support and initiative of Willie Whelan and Waterford County Museum, and Cara’s IT skills, both Cappoquin Heritage Group and the Cornerstone Carnival are now on Facebook. Check it out.

Our area’s service to the United Nations

The Heritage Group hopes to stage an exhibition later this year to commemorate the five decades of service given by local members of the Defence Forces to the United Nations. From the Congo in 1960 right up to the most recent missions in Africa, we believe that people from the Cappoquin area have served, in their dozens, on every significant UN mission, and we are very anxious to hear from anyone with photographs, stories or memorabilia which we might be in a position to use for a proper exhibition of this great tradition of service. Contact any member of Civic Link or the Heritage section, please.

Carnival Heritage Events

Work continues on plans for heritage events at the Cornerstone Carnival. The centrepiece exhibition will celebrate ten years of Cappoquin’s twinning with Chanat La Mouteyre by highlighting the industrial, military and other links between Ireland and France, including between Cappoquin and France where possible. This will also include a series of displays by the Flower Club and will be staged at St. Anne’s Church over June 25th to 27th. We will also have our annual window display competition, not to mention Brendan Kiely’s historical walk on Sunday June 27th, which is heading for its sixth year at this stage, a tribute to the detailed and interesting knowledge brought to bear on the subject.

At this stage, we are hopeful that the Green/Green Street area will be able to host the Recession Olympics again this year, given the speed of the work done on the pipe laying. We will confirm this in due course, and will get another venue if not. Some people will be glad to know that some of the prize bags of sweets this year will be of the soft variety – the boiled sweets proved more a of a challenge for a few than the slow bicycles did last year. Lastly on the heritage front, we can announce at this juncture that there will be three separate trophies to compete for in the Blackwater Crossing long puck competition at the Boathouse on Saturday June 26th. The Jimmy Foley Cup will go to the overall inter-county winner, the Michael Lacey trophy to the best club player, and the Toss Bryan trophy to the best club player outside of the Cappoquin-Affane club. This competition will double as a charity fundraiser and will, we hope, be a lot of fun too.

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About Us

Cappoquin Heritage Group is committed to preserving and promoting awareness of our area's rich local heritage in as many ways as possible; we are a non-profit voluntary group under the umbrella of Cappoquin Civic Link.